PITTSBURGH  On a night Florida State found out its freshman class might soon be as good as advertised, Pitt learned its bench might be even better than projected. Mark McCarroll, a seldom-used reserve last season, scored 13 points in his second consecutive strong game and the 16th-ranked Panthers dealt Florida State its first loss, 63-56 Monday night.

Pitt's Antonio Graves, left, and Carl Krauser trap Florida State's Nate Johnson in the second half of the Panters' victory.

By Keith Srakocic, AP

Carl Krauser led Pitt with 17 points and eight assists and didn't commit a turnover. McCarroll had six points during a pivotal 10-2 run that started the second half and gave the Panthers a 38-30 lead. (Related item: Game report)

The game essentially served as the championship game of the Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Tournament, a six-team exempt event played both at campus sites and Pitt. Florida State (10-1) and Pitt (11-0) were predrawn to meet in the final game.

"We're not as far along as they are," said Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton, who recruited one of the nation's best freshman classes. "They've got quality players and a lot of depth. We'll take this game and learn from it, and we'll be better prepared to face a team like this in the future. I like the progress we're making."

McCarroll, a 6-foot-10 junior, didn't play in nearly half of Pitt's games last season and hadn't scored more than 10 points in his career until getting 14 in Saturday's 70-49 victory over Murray State. His playing time has increased substantially with starter Chevon Troutman fighting through a groin injury.

"Mark's always been able to do that. The difference is he's getting playing time and getting into the game," Troutman said.

McCarroll agreed he's more excited about this season, even routine practices, because he knows he's likely to play.

"I'm getting an opportunity and I'm getting more minutes," he said.

Troutman, riding a stationary bicycle behind the Panthers bench to stay loose while out of the game, shook off a scoreless first half to get nine points down the stretch and help Pitt open leads of as many as 10 points.

But it was Krauser, Brandin Knight's successor at point guard, who was most responsible for ending the Seminoles' 14-game non-conference winning streak.

"We had a very difficult time keeping him out of the lane and probably six of those eight assists were for baskets from point-blank range," Hamilton said of Krauser, chosen as the tournament's MVP. "He made it tough for us to control him. He probably affected the game more than the statistics say."

Krauser had all but two assists in the second half, consistently threading the ball through traffic to find Troutman, McCarroll or Jaron Brown for easy shots.

"I thought we had prepared for that, but Krauser has a way, a talent and a skill that allows him to do things with the ball," Hamilton said. "He's a very difficult player to play against."

Pittsburgh moved within one victory of matching the school's best start, 12-0 in 1929-30, and won its 31st in a row at home. The Panthers are 25-0 at home since the Petersen Events Center opened last season.

Florida State failed to match a 33-year-old school record of 11 consecutive victories set during the Dave Cowens era, despite Tim Pickett's 14 points and highly recruited freshman Von Wafer's 13. Nate Johnson added 12 points and freshman Alexander Johnson was a strong presence inside with seven points, but only one of Florida State's three starting inside players, Mike Matthews (two points) scored.

Wafer got the Seminoles within 56-50 with a jumper from the wing with just over a minute left but, after a Pitt turnover, he missed a jumper that would have cut it to four. Brown then grabbed a loose ball and scored off a driving layup to get the lead back to eight.

Brown added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Pitt, which has held six of its last seven opponents to 56 points or fewer.

Florida State traded leads with Pitt while going 6-of-11 on 3-pointers in the first half, but cooled off in the second half to finish 10-of-25 from 3-point range.

Knights, Texas Tech edge past Alford, Iowa

DALLAS — Steve Alford still hasn't beaten his former coach.

That doesn't mean Texas Tech's Bob Knight is satisfied with being undefeated against the best player from the last of his three national championship teams at Indiana. (Related item: Game report)

"There's never been a time that I've played these kids that played for me or coached with me that I haven't wanted our kids to win," Knight said. "I don't like to see our guys lose, and I don't like to see Steve lose this game."

But Andre Emmett, Knight's current star player at Tech, scored 23 points — including the last six in a 10-0 first-half run that snapped an early tie — and the Red Raiders beat Iowa 65-59 Monday night.

Alford was part of 92 of Knight's wins at Indiana, including the 1987 national championship. They also shared an Olympic gold medal in 1984.

But as a coach, Alford is 0-3 against Knight.

"If I have to lose a game, I'd want to lose it to him," Alford said.

Texas Tech (10-2) has won six straight games since losing 62-59 in another Dallas appearance three weeks ago at SMU. Pierre Pierce had 18 points for the Hawkeyes (6-2), who have lost their last two games.

Despite their mutual respect for each other, Alford didn't speak at length with Knight after taking the Iowa job in 1999 until calling his former coach in January when his own team was struggling and he needed to talk to somebody about it.

Still, both coaches insisted in the week leading up to the game that there are no problems with their relationship.

"This is somebody that since I was in the third grade I've been following and watching and dreaming about playing for," Alford said. "And then all that takes place and I end up getting into coaching and coaching against him. It's always tough to go up against him."

Before Monday night's game, their first against each other since Alford's first year at Iowa, the former player walked over to meet Knight. The two embraced lightly near midcourt and had an extended conversation, Alford smiling widely while Knight talked with his arm draped over the shoulder of his former player.

Once the game started, Emmett took over and Alford's smile was gone.

Darryl Dora's tip-in broke a 6-6 tie five minutes in to put the Red Raiders ahead to stay. He then followed an Iowa turnover with a jumper.

Emmett's scored three straight baskets after that, starting with a 15-foot jumper and a tip-in after another turnover. Emmett then had a steal and drove for a layup to give Tech a 16-6 lead.

Iowa didn't get closer than eight points before halftime, when Emmett already had 16 points and the Red Raiders led 39-27.

The Hawkeyes opened the second half with a 8-2 run, getting to 41-35 after 3-pointers by Jeff Horner and Pierce.

But even when Texas Tech went more than six minutes without scoring midway through the second half, Iowa scored just nine points to make it 52-48. With a chance to cut the deficit to two, the Hawkeyes missed three shots on the same possession and then made just two of their last six free throw attempts.

Knight was still at Indiana the first two times he went against Alford. Southwest Missouri lost 78-66 to the Hoosiers in 1997-98, and Alford's first Iowa team lost 74-71 four years ago.

Unless there is an Iowa-Texas Tech matchup in the NCAA tournament, Alford won't get another shot against Knight until they play in a planned game next December in Chicago.

Each time there is such a game, Knight is reminded of the times he had to face his former coach at Ohio State, Fred Taylor.

"I hated that. I don't know how many times we won or they won," Knight said. "If we got beat, I didn't like that. If we win, I didn't like that either, and I mean really disliked it, probably more so than even with the kids now like Steve."

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